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Name of Estonia

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Frugården runestoneinSwedenfrom 11th century mentionsEstlatum"Estonian lands".

The name ofEstonia(Estonian:Eesti[ˈeˑstʲi]ⓘ) has a long and complex history. It has been connected toAesti,first mentioned byTacitusaround AD 98. The name's modern geographical meaning comes fromEistland,EstiaandHestiain themedievalScandinavian sources. Estonians adopted it as anendonymonly in the mid-19th century.

Etymology

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Origins

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The name has a complex history extending over two thousand years, and there is little consensus on which places and peoples it has referred to at different periods.[1]RomanhistorianTacitusin hisGermania(ca. AD 98), mentionedAestiorum gentes"Aestian tribes", and some historians believe that he was directly referring toBaltswhile others have proposed that the name applied to the whole Eastern Baltic.[2]The word Aesti mentioned by Tacitus might derive fromLatinAestuariimeaning "Estuary Dwellers".[3]Later geographically vague mentions includeAestibyJordanesfrom the 6th century andAistibyEinhardfrom the early 7th century. The last mention generally considered to be applying primarily to the southern parts of the Eastern-Baltic isEastlandain a description ofWulfstan’s travels from the 9th century.[4]In the following centuries, views of the Eastern Baltic became more complex, and in the 11th century,Adam of Bremenmentions three islands, withAestlandbeing the northernmost.[5]

Scandinavian sagas[6]and theViking runestones[7][page needed]referring toEistlandwere the earliest sources to use the name in its modern meaning. The sagas were composed in the 13th century on the basis of earlier oral tradition by historians likeSnorri Sturluson.Estonia appears asAistlandinGutasagaand asEistlandinYnglinga saga,Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar,Haralds saga hárfagra,andÖrvar-Odds saga.[8]Snorri Sturluson retells in theYnglinga sagaa story about a semi-legendary Swedish warrior kingIngvar Harrawho often spent time patrolling the shores of his kingdom fighting off Danes and Estonian vikings (Víkingr frá Eistland).[9]

In present-day Sweden, theFrugården runestonefrom the 11th century mentionsEstlatum"Estonian lands".[10]Many other runestones in Sweden indicate that at the time there were close contacts with Estonia, because of the frequent references therein to personal names such asÆistfari( "traveller to Estonia" ),Æistulfr( "Wolf of Estonians" ) and Æistr ( "Estonian" ).[11][page needed]The toponymEstland/Eistlandhas been connected toOld Scandinavianeist,austr( "the east" ), forming part ofAustrvegr,or even sometimes identical with it.[12]

The first mostly reliable chronicle data comes fromGesta Danorumby the 12th century historianSaxo Grammaticus,referring to Estonia asHestia,Estiaand its people asEstonum.[13][14]The 12th century Arab geographeral-Idrisifrom Sicily, who presumably had help of some informant atJutlandin Denmark, describesAstalānda,probably referring to Estonia and theLivonianregions of Latvia.[15]From Scandinavian the name spread to German and later, following the rise of the Catholic Church, reached Latin, withHenry of Latviain hisHeinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae(ca. AD 1229) naming the regionEstoniaand its inhabitantsEstones.[16][17]

Adoption by Estonians

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The first issue ofPerno Postimeesin 1857 welcomed readers with"Terre, armas Eesti rahwas!"( "Hello, dear Estonian people!" )

The endonymmaarahvas,literally meaning "land people" or "country folk", was used up until the mid-19th century.[18]Its origins are unclear; there is a hypothesis of it originating from the prehistoric period, but no supporting evidence has been found. Another proposed explanation relates to its being a medieval loan-translation from GermanLandvolk.[17][18][19]Although the name had been used earlier,Johann Voldemar Jannsenplayed a major role in popularisation ofEesti rahvas"Estonian people" among the Estonians themselves, during theEstonian national awakening.[20]The first issue of his newspaperPerno Postimeesin 1857 started with"Terre, armas Eesti rahwas!"meaning "Hello, dear Estonian people!".[21]

In other languages

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Esthoniawas a common alternativeEnglishspelling. In 1922, in response to a letter by Estonian diplomatOskar Kallasraising the issue, theRoyal Geographical Societyagreed that the correct spelling wasEstonia.Formal adoption took place at the government level only in 1926, with the United Kingdom and United States then adopting the spellingEstonia.In the same year this spelling was officially endorsed by the Estonian government, alongsideEstoniein French, andEstlandin German, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish.[22]

In theFinnish languagethe neighbouring country Estonia is known asViro,a toponym corresponding to the north Estonian region ofVirumaa.Similarly, the correspondingLatvian languagewordIgaunijais thought to be related to the late medievalUgandi Countyin the neighbouring southeastern region of Estonia.

References

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  1. ^Kasik 2011,p. 11
  2. ^Mägi 2018,pp. 144-145
  3. ^Theroux 2011,p. 22
  4. ^Mägi 2018,pp. 145-146
  5. ^Mägi 2018,p. 148
  6. ^Tvauri 2012,p. 31
  7. ^Harrison, D. & Svensson, K. (2007). Vikingaliv. Fälth & Hässler, Värnamo. ISBN 91-27-35725-2
  8. ^Tvauri 2012,pp. 29-31
  9. ^Marold, Edith (2012)."Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal".In Whaley, Diana (ed.).Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035.Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages1. Turnhout: Brepols. p. 15.ISBN978-2-503-51896-1.
  10. ^Tvauri 2012,pp. 31-32
  11. ^Harrison, D. & Svensson, K. (2007). Vikingaliv. Fälth & Hässler, Värnamo. ISBN 91-27-35725-2
  12. ^Mägi 2018,p. 144
  13. ^Tvauri 2012,p. 32
  14. ^Kasik 2011,p. 12
  15. ^Mägi 2018,p. 151
  16. ^Rätsep 2007,p. 11
  17. ^abTamm, Kaljundi & Jensen 2016,pp. 94-96
  18. ^abBeyer 2011,pp. 12-13
  19. ^Paatsi 2012,pp. 2-3
  20. ^Paatsi 2012,pp. 20-21
  21. ^Paatsi 2012,p. 1
  22. ^Loit 2008,pp. 144-146

Bibliography

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